"She's everything to me," Patriots running back Jonas Gray said Tuesday of his mother, Jerri. "Her and my brother, it's always been us three. So she's definitely my main motivation. She's the reason why I do everything every day."

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few years ago, Jerri Gray was forced to retire from the Pontiac (Michigan) Police Department.

"I remember one morning she woke up and couldn't see," said Gray. "Stuff like that, I mean that really is what motivates me — especially her and what she has dealt with."

While his older brother, Corinthian, an intern at the Detroit Zoo, looks after their mother, Gray is in New England with the Patriots, vying for a job.

"Hard-working kid," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said Tuesday. "Worked hard in the offseason, worked hard in the spring and has worked hard in training camp. He's been out there every day, making progress, improving. We'll see how it goes. He's done everything we've asked him to do."

Most recently, Gray was called on to carry the ball 12 times in the second half of the Patriots' 42-35 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium Friday night, a workload that nearly resulted in an increasing NFL rarity — a 100-yard rushing game — as the 5-foot-10, 230-pounder responded with 98 yards on the ground.

"It means a lot," Gray said of his performance, "but last year I was in a pretty similar situation (with Miami, which released him prior to the start of the regular season). I played OK during preseason, but I know there's still a lot of work to be done.

"This league, I see people all the time, they do things well and they have a good preseason and still don't find themselves on the roster or find themselves on the team. So, I'm just blessed to be here and working hard and doing everything they ask me to do."

Despite his most recent performance, due to the likes of Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, James White and Brandon Bolden likely ahead of him on the depth chart, the numbers in New England seem to be stacked against Gray, who originally signed with the Dolphins as a rookie free agent out of Notre Dame in 2012 and missed that year due to injury before spending the 2013 season on the Baltimore Ravens' practice squad.

"I can't worry about it," said Gray. "There's no time to worry about it. You pretty much have to take it day-by-day. Whenever you take it day-by-day you're never worried about what the future holds. This staff and this atmosphere here, they do a good job of making you understand it's day-by-day and when your opportunity knocks you better be ready."

Gray's opportunity with the Patriots began on Jan. 8 of this year, when he was signed as a free agent. He heads into Friday night's tune-up with Carolina at Gillette as the team's rushing leader this summer, carrying for 110 yards on 21 attempts.

Mayo is mute: Veteran linebacker Jerod Mayo, who returned to the field on Monday, refused to disclose a reason for his absence from last week's joint practices and game with the Eagles. "Ask coach Belichick. Everything's good," said Mayo, who suffered a pectoral tear and was limited to six games last season.

Welcome to the NFL: Tight end Justin Jones has arleady been already released (Aug. 10) and re-signed (Aug. 18) this summer. "It's one of those things for me. It kind of was my first little welcome-to-the-NFL kind of thing," said Jones, a rookie free agent out of East Carolina. "It's a big business and Coach Belichick tells us all the time, 'Be expecting roster moves. This time of year things change a lot.' "All you can do is just try to not be that guy. So hopefully this time around I'm not."

Flags aplenty: Eight-year veteran cornerback Darrelle Revis calls the inordinate amount of penalty flags being tossed, as the league makes illegal contact and defensive holding points of emphasis this preseason, "a learning situation for everybody. It's tough," said Revis. "I think we've just got to work through it. Teams have been working through it during this preseason. I think it's a learning situation for everybody. It's a new rule. The refs are trying to do the best they can. As players, we're trying to do the best we can by keeping our hands off the receivers down the field and that's the learning process. Maybe in the regular season things might change. You never know, but at this moment, everybody's just trying to make sure they're doing the right thing by following the rules."